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Afreximbank raises $750m in euro note for Nigeria, other borrowers

Afreximbank raises $750m in euro note for Nigeria, other borrowers
June 28, 2017

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) said it has successfully raised $750 million note under its Euro Medium Term Note programme, in a move to boost lending to African borrowers who would enjoy the positive effects of the reduction in cost of funds.

As a frontline financial institution in the pursuit of trade and economic integration of African countries, the bank has been involved in financing of corporate organisations and services in Nigeria and across the continent to activities.

It closed the seven-year Regulation S (Reg S) notes on 13 June, priced at a spread of 220 bps over mid-swaps (m/s) and a coupon of 4.125 per cent. Reg S are bonds or stocks that may not be offered, sold or delivered within the United States.

Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International Plc was the sole coordinator and joint lead manager/book runner, while Barclays Bank Plc, HSBC Bank Plc, Commerzbank and Standard Chartered Bank were joint lead managers and book runners.

The deal tenor represents the longest that Afreximbank has ever achieved in the Eurobond market and will help it to extend the average tenor of its liability book in support of its new five-year strategic plan dubbed “Impact 2021.”

In the latest, which attest to the bank’s integrity, the order book reached $2.7 billion before being scaled back to $2.2 billion after the initial pricing thoughts were revised from m/s plus 250 basis points (bps), down to m/s plus 220 bps.

In the end, 39 per cent of the allocation went to continental Europe, 28 per cent to the United Kingdom, 19 per cent to Asia, and 7 per cent each to the Middle East and Africa and the United States offshore.

The Executive Vice President in charge of Finance, Administration and Banking Services, Afreximbank. Denys Denya, said: “The level of subscription and diversification of investors, coupled with the highly competitive pricing achieved, is testimony to the continued investor confidence in Afreximbank,” he said.

Meanwhile, the bank has approved a $200-million industrialisation liquidity facility for Egypt’s Banque Misr for the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to support light manufacturing activities in the country.

At a signing ceremony for the facility held at the institution’s Headquarters in Cairo, Afreximbank President, Dr. Benedict Oramah, said that the Central Bank of Egypt would act as the foreign currency procurements guarantor for the facility while the Arab-African International Bank would be the custodian.

Oramah said that the facility would help to expand Egypt’s industrial base and would have significant impact on employment in the country by creating jobs.“This transaction was developed in the light of the strong relationship that Afreximbank enjoys with Banque Misr and the Central Bank of Egypt, both shareholders of the bank.

Chairman of Banque Misr, Mohamed Eletreby, who signed the facility agreement on behalf of his bank, commended Afreximbank for its continuing support to the Egyptian bank and said that the facility would create opportunities for businesses operating in the informal sector to join the formal economy.

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